Would the emergence of e-books threaten print media? That is the question that publishers are pondering. However some media pundits predict that old media would still exist as different audiences have different likings on how they get their information (Paterson 2008).
But it cannot be denied that there would still be competition between the two forms of media. How would they survive together?
Image Source: USS Print
Would print media sink?
Would print media sink?
According to Mercieca (2004) the popularity of the e-book is increasing by the day as it is preferred by the younger generation who spend most of their time facing the computer.
Image Source: Amazon_Kindle
Will Kindle rise to be the ultimate reading source or will traditional print prevail?
Technology advancements, the rising cost of traditional text books and the easiness of searching and gaining excess also play in the favour of e-books. The global and popular acceptance of the e-book is shown by the statistics where one in four men and one in six women intend to buy an e-reader before the end of the year (Greenberg 2009).
But even though the Kindle is a well-received device, books are still undeniably in popular demand. People from certain age group such as the older people would prefer reading from books to spending time in front of the computer as it is easier on the eye (Penman 1998).
Mercieca (2004) shares that it is possible to carry around books in their physical form and readers would find it easier to browse through contents. It is also proven that audience tend to skim read on screen, and the reading process would be 25% to 40% slower than from the printed books. Schriver (1997) concurs that “better technology does not equal better communication”.
Image Source: Home_photo_books
Will traditional books retain its number one status at people's reading choice?
Will traditional books retain its number one status at people's reading choice?
Therefore Naughton (2006) predicts that people have bigger response on the new media (e-book) but would prefer to get back to old nature of the old media. Lannon (1997) also agrees that the e-book is just a tool and not a substitute for human interaction.
With all that being said, the survival of both books and e-books will continue to rise as both are in popular demand.
References
Abbott, C. 2009, 'The New Book Buying Realities', Follow The Reader, viewed November 14 2009, http://followthereader.wordpress.com/2009/05/14/bowker-reveals-new-book-buying-realities/
Greenberg, A. 2009, 'The coming e-book boom', Forbes.com, viewed November 14 2009, http://www.financialpost.com/news-sectors/technology/story.html?id=2087178
Harvey, M. 2009, 'International version of Kindle out for Christmas', The Times, viewed November 14 2009, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/news/international-version-of-kindle-out-for-christmas/story-e6frg90o-1225784098422
Lannon, J. 1997, The writing process: a concise rhetoric, New York, viewed November 14 2009, http://books.google.com.my/books?id=BOWfgoVOVkoC&q=J.+Lannon,+1997&dq=J.+Lannon,+199
Mercieca, P. 2004, E-book acceptance: what will make users read on screen?, viewed on November 14 2009, www.vala.org.au/vala2004/2004pdfs/32Merci.PDF
Naughton, J., 2006, 'Blogging and the emerging media ecosystem', University of Oxford, viewed November 14 2009, http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/fileadmin/documents/discussion/blogging.pdf
Paterson, R. 2008, 'Getting from Here to There – How Torey Malatia is solving the Innovator’s Dilemma', Fastforwardblog.com, viewed November 14 2009, http://www.fastforwardblog.com/category/torey-malatia/
Penman, R. 1998, 'Document structures and readers’ habits', Communication news, vol 11, no. 2, pp. 1 & 10-11.
Schriver, K.A. 1997, ‘Chap 6: The interplay of words and pictures’ in Dynamics in document design: creating texts for readers, pp. 361-441, Wiley Computer Publishing, New York.
